Customized browser images

ABSTRACT

A process is directed to the generation and processing of browser virtual machines. A network computing provider determines browser settings and other optimizations for improved performance when a browser is processing a specific type of Web page or other network resource. The network computing provider customizes a browser with the settings and optimizations, and generates a virtual machine image of the customized browser. The image is deployed to any number of servers processing network resource requests from client computing devices. In response to receiving a request for a Web page or other network resource with a corresponding customized browser, the network computing provider routes the request to a server with an image or active instance of the customized browser.

BACKGROUND

Generally described, computing devices and communication networks can be utilized to exchange information. In a common application, a computing device can request content from another computing device via the communication network. For example, a user at a personal computing device can utilize a software browser application, typically referred to as a browser software application, to request a Web page from a server computing device via the Internet. In such embodiments, the user computing device can be referred to as a client computing device and the server computing device can be referred to as a content provider.

With reference to an illustrative example, a requested Web page, or original content, may be associated with a number of additional resources, such as images or videos, that are to be displayed with the Web page. In one specific embodiment, the additional resources of the Web page are identified by a number of embedded resource identifiers, such as uniform resource locators (“URLs”). In turn, software on the client computing devices, such as a browser software application, typically processes embedded resource identifiers to generate requests for the content. Accordingly, in order to satisfy a content request, one or more content providers will generally provide client computing devices data associated with the Web page as well as the data associated with the embedded resources.

Once the client computing device obtains the Web page and associated additional resources, the content may be processed in a number of stages by the software browser application or other client computing device interface. For example, and with reference to the above illustration, the software browser application may parse the Web page to process various HTML layout information and references to associated resources, may identify and process Cascading Style Sheets (“CSS”) information, may process and instantiate various Javascript code associated with the Web page, may construct a native object model to represent one or more components of the Web page, and may calculate various layout and display properties of the processed content for presentation to a user.

Generally described, retrieving network resources and embedded resources from network content providers can cause latencies during a Web browsing session. Additionally, processing of the resources, such as parsing and processing HTML and CSS files, compiling Javascript code, and rendering the display, may further affect the browsing session. In one aspect, software browser applications can be optimized to mitigate the network or processing latencies. However, software browsers optimized for a subset of these actions may experience poor performance during other actions. For example, a software browser application optimized for mitigating network latencies may not be well suited to mitigate processing latencies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrative of a content delivery environment including a number of client computing devices, content provider, a content delivery network service provider, and a network computing provider;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrative of the network computing provider of FIG. 1A, illustrating a configuration with browser virtual machines;

FIG. 1C is a block diagram illustrating example functional modules of the browser virtual machine manager of FIG. 1B;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1A illustrating the generation and processing of a new browse session request from a client computing device to a network computing provider;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1A illustrating the generation and processing of a request for a network resource from a network computing provider to a content provider;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1A illustrating the generation and processing of one or more requests corresponding to one or more embedded resources from a network computing provider to a content provider and content delivery network;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1A illustrating the generation and processing of browse session data and user interaction data between a network computing provider and client computing device;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1A illustrating the generation and processing of an additional new browse session request from a client computing device to a network computing provider;

FIG. 7 is a user interface diagram depicting an illustrative browser interface and display of browse session content;

FIG. 8 is a diagram depicting illustrative browser content processing actions as a series of processing subsystems;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrative of a new browse session routine implemented by network computing provider;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrative of a client new browse session interaction routine implemented by a client computing device; and

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrative of a process user interaction routine implemented by a client computing device;

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine implemented by a network computing provider for creating customized browser virtual machine images;

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine implemented by a network computing provider for processing network resource requests in an environment with customized browser virtual machines; and

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrative of a routine implemented by a network computing provider for automatically generating customized browser virtual machine images for popular network resources.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally described, the present disclosure is directed to the creation and use of customized browsers, and the storage and deployment of the customized browsers as virtual machines. Specifically, aspects of the disclosure will be described with regard to a network computing provider determining browser settings and other optimizations for improved performance when a browser is processing a specific type of Web page or other network resource and customizing a browser with the settings and optimizations. Another aspect of the disclosure will described with regard to generating a virtual machine image of the customized browser, deploying the image to any number of servers, and routing requests for the specific type of Web page to a server on which the browser virtual machine image has been deployed. Although aspects of the embodiments described in the disclosure will focus, for the purpose of illustration, on the processing by a network computing provider, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the techniques disclosed herein may be applied to any number of hardware or software processes or applications. Further, although various aspects of the disclosure will be described with regard to illustrative examples and embodiments, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the disclosed embodiments and examples should not be construed as limiting.

With reference to an illustrative example, a user may cause a client computing device to load a software browser application (henceforth referred to as a “browser”) for accessing content provided by one or more content providers. Illustratively, the accessed content may include a collection of one or more network resources (e.g., a Web page) and embedded resources such as images, video, audio, text, executable code, and other resources. In one embodiment, the browser may have a content display area or pane for displaying the accessed network content in addition to one or more local interface components, such as toolbars, menus, buttons, or other user interface controls. Local interface components may be managed and controlled by the software browser application or any other process executing or implemented locally at the client computing device. Illustratively, managing user interface controls locally may allow for a responsive user interface, as interactions by the user are processed locally on the client computing device.

Subsequent to the browser being loaded, a user or automated browser process may cause the client computing device to transmit a request to access content from a content provider by establishing a browse session with a network computing and storage provider across a private or public network. The browse session request may include information identifying one or more sources for the requested content. The identifiers can be in the form of network addresses of network resources, such as a Web site or other network accessible piece of content. For example, the user may select or enter a URL, (e.g., http://www.xyzwebsite.com) into a browser window, causing the client computing device to transmit a request for a new browse session to the network computing and storage provider, including the selected URL. The address or location of a network computing and storage provider capable to service the browse session request may be hardcoded into the browser, may be configurable by the user, may be obtained from a network address service, or may be determined in any other way.

In an illustrative embodiment, responsive to the browse session request received from the client computing device, the network computing and storage provider may instantiate or cause to have instantiated one or more computing components associated with the network computing and storage provider that will host a browser software application. For example, the network computing and storage provider can instantiate, or cause to have instantiated, an instance of a virtual machine that includes a software browser application capable of requesting resources from a communication network. In one embodiment, the browser may be customized for the specific network resource or type of network resource requested by the client computing device. In one aspect, the customized browser may have the network resource or portions thereof precached and processed so that the browser will be required to perform less initial processing and network communication to prepare the network resource for browsing. In another aspect, the settings, components, or software code of the browser may be customized to achieve an improved browsing performance after startup when compared to a more generally configured browser. Illustratively, the browser may have been configured at a previous time to provide an improved browsing experience for a specific Web site or group of Web sites sharing some common characteristic, such as being primarily video-based. In a further aspect, the network computing provider may create customized browser virtual machine images, either on demand or automatically, based on network traffic or other data. The browser virtual machine images may then be deployed based on forecasted demand for the network resource which the browser virtual image is customized to process.

Using the instantiated network computing components, the network computing and storage provider may request the identified network resource(s) from one or more content providers, a content delivery network, or a local or associated cache component, if the network resource or some portion thereof has not been precached in the browser virtual machine image. For example, the browser software application on the instantiated network computing component can process a primary network resource and then generate additional content requests for content identified in one or more embedded resource identifiers (e.g. pictures, video files, etc.). Illustratively, in the case of other, non-browser, applications, network resources, or content may include any file type or format known in the art and supported by the specific software application.

Having obtained the requested content (e.g., the requested network resource and embedded resources), the network computing and storage provider may identify a remote session browsing configuration specifying a remote session communication protocol for use in transmitting the requested content, user interaction data, intermediate processing results, and other information between the browser being executed on the client computing device and the browser being executed at the instantiated network computing component on the computing and storage provider. The information exchanged between the browser on the instantiated network computing component and the browser on the client computing device can be generally referred to as “browser session information.”

In addition to specifying a remote session communication protocol for transmitting information between the client computing device and the instantiated network computing component, in one embodiment, the identified remote session browsing configuration may specify that one or more processing actions to be performed on the requested content are to be performed at the network computing and storage provider rather than, or in addition to, at the client computing device For purposes of illustration, the processing of network content by a browser may involve various processing actions before content can be rendered in an appropriate form on a client computing device. A Web page, for example, may be parsed and processed to process various HTML layout information and references to associated resources or embedded content such as CSS style sheets and Javascript, as well as embedded content objects such as images, video, audio, etc. Each object or piece of code may be parsed and processed before a representative object model corresponding to the web page may be constructed and processed further for layout and display. In accordance with the selected remote session browsing configuration, the client computing device and the instantiated network computing component may exchange processing results via browser session information (e.g., state data or display data representing the requested content).

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrative of a networked computing environment 100 for the management and processing of content requests. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the networked computing environment 100 includes a number of client computing devices 102 (generally referred to as clients) for requesting content and content processing from a content provider 104, CDN service provider 106, or network computing provider 107. In an illustrative embodiment, the client computing devices 102 can corresponds to a wide variety of computing devices including personal computing devices, laptop computing devices, hand-held computing devices, terminal computing devices, mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones, tablet computing devices, etc.), wireless devices, various electronic devices and appliances and the like. In an illustrative embodiment, the client computing devices 102 include necessary hardware and software components for establishing communications over a communication network 108, such as a wide area network or local area network. For example, the client computing devices 102 may be equipped with networking equipment and browser software applications that facilitate communications via the Internet or an intranet. The client computing devices 102 may have varied local computing resources such as central processing units and architectures, memory, mass storage, graphics processing units, communication network availability and bandwidth, etc.

The networked computing environment 100 can also include a content provider 104 in communication with the one or more client computing devices 102 or other service providers (e.g., CDN service provider 106, network computing provider 107, etc.) via the communication network 108. The content provider 104 illustrated in FIG. 1A corresponds to a logical association of one or more computing devices associated with a content provider. Specifically, the content provider 104 can include a web server component 110 corresponding to one or more server computing devices for obtaining and processing requests for content (such as Web pages) from the client computing devices 102 or other service providers. The content provider 104 can further include an origin server component 112 and associated storage component 114 corresponding to one or more computing devices for obtaining and processing requests for network resources from the CDN service provider. The content provider 104 can still further include an application server computing device 111, such as a data streaming server, for processing streaming content requests. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the content provider 104 can be associated with various additional computing resources, such as additional computing devices for administration of content and resources, DNS name servers, and the like. For example, although not illustrated in FIG. 1A, the content provider 104 can be associated with one or more DNS name server components that would be authoritative to resolve client computing device DNS queries corresponding to a domain of the content provider.

With continued reference to FIG. 1A, the networked computing environment 100 can further include a CDN service provider 106 in communication with the one or more client computing devices 102 and other service providers via the communication network 108. The CDN service provider 106 illustrated in FIG. 1A corresponds to a logical association of one or more computing devices associated with a CDN service provider. Specifically, the CDN service provider 106 can include a number of Point of Presence (“POP”) locations 116, 122, 128 that correspond to nodes on the communication network 108. Each CDN POP 116, 122, 128 includes a DNS component 118, 124, 130 made up of a number of DNS server computing devices for resolving DNS queries from the client computers 102. Each CDN POP 116, 122, 128 also includes a resource cache component 120, 126, 132 made up of a number of cache server computing devices for storing resources from content providers and transmitting various requested resources to various client computers. The DNS components 118, 124, and 130 and the resource cache components 120, 126, 132 may further include additional software and/or hardware components that facilitate communications including, but not limited to, load balancing or load sharing software/hardware components.

In an illustrative embodiment, the DNS component 118, 124, 130 and resource cache component 120, 126, 132 are considered to be logically grouped, regardless of whether the components, or portions of the components, are physically separate. Additionally, although the CDN POPs 116, 122, 128 are illustrated in FIG. 1A as logically associated with the CDN service provider 106, the CDN POPs will be geographically distributed throughout the communication network 108 in a manner to best serve various demographics of client computing devices 102. Additionally, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the CDN service provider 106 can be associated with various additional computing resources, such as additional computing devices for administration of content and resources, and the like.

With further continued reference to FIG. 1A, the networked computing environment 100 can also include a network computing provider 107 in communication with the one or more client computing devices 102, the CDN service provider 106, and the content provider 104 via the communication network 108. The network computing provider 107 illustrated in FIG. 1A also corresponds to a logical association of one or more computing devices associated with a network computing provider. Specifically, the network computing provider 107 can include a number of Point of Presence (“POP”) locations 134, 142, 148 that correspond to nodes on the communication network 108. Each POP 134, 142, 148 includes a network computing component (NCC) 136, 144, 150 for hosting applications, such as data streaming applications, via a number of instances of a virtual machine, generally referred to as an instance of an NCC. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that NCC 136, 144, 150 would include physical computing device resources and software to provide the multiple instances of a virtual machine or to dynamically cause the creation of instances of a virtual machine. Such creation can be based on a specific request, such as from a client computing device, or the NCC can initiate dynamic creation of an instance of a virtual machine on its own. Each NCC POP 134, 142, 148 also includes a storage component 140, 146, 152 made up of a number of storage devices for storing any type of data used in the delivery and processing of network or computing resources, including but not limited to user data, state information, processing requirements, historical usage data, and resources from content providers that will be processed by an instance of an NCC 136, 144, 150 and transmitted to various client computers, etc. The NCCs 136, 144, 150 and the storage components 140, 146, 152 may further include additional software and/or hardware components that facilitate communications including, but not limited to, load balancing or load sharing software/hardware components for selecting instances of a virtual machine supporting a requested application and/or providing information to a DNS nameserver to facilitate request routing.

In an illustrative embodiment, NCCs 136, 144, 150 and the storage components 140, 146, 152 are considered to be logically grouped, regardless of whether the components, or portions of the components, are physically separate. For example, a network computing provider 107 may maintain separate POPs for providing the NCC and the storage components. Additionally, although the NCC POPs 134, 142, 148 are illustrated in FIG. 1A as logically associated with a network computing provider 107, the NCC POPs will be geographically distributed throughout the communication network 108 in a manner to best serve various demographics of client computing devices 102. Additionally, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the network computing provider 107 can be associated with various additional computing resources, such additional computing devices for administration of content and resources, and the like. Even further, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the components of the network computing provider 107 and components of the CDN service provider 106 can be managed by the same or different entities.

FIG. 1B illustrates an embodiment of the network computing provider 107 of FIG. 1A. The embodiment of the network computing provider 107 illustrated in FIG. 1B includes a virtual machine manager 182, one or more physical computing systems 184, one or more browser virtual machine images 186, and one or more storage nodes 188. The components of the network computing provider 107 can communicate with each other over a network 180. In addition, one or more client computing devices 102 can communicate with the network computing provider 107 over a network 108.

The browser virtual machine images 186 can be images of customized browsers which are ready, upon launch, to receive and process interactions with a web site while minimizing or eliminating many of the inefficiencies or overhead of launching a general browser, retrieving web sites and embedded resources from content sources, and providing initial results to a client computing device 102. The virtual machine manager 182 can be a physical computing device, or software executing on one or more physical computing systems 184. The virtual machine manager 182 can manage the creation and usage of the browser virtual machine images 186, as described in detail below.

The physical computing systems 184 and storage nodes 188 can be computer servers. Such servers can include rack-mounted computing devices, midrange or mainframe computers, clusters of computing devices, etc. The network 180 may be a publicly accessible network of linked networks, possibly operated by various distinct parties, such as the Internet. In some embodiments, the network 180 may be a private network, such as, for example, a corporate or university network that is wholly or partially inaccessible to non-privileged users. In other embodiments, the network 180 may include a private network, personal area network, local area network, wide area network, cable network, satellite network, etc. or combination thereof, each with access to and/or from the Internet.

As described herein, the network computing provider 107 can provide a variety of functionality for managing browsing sessions of client computing devices 102. For example, a network computing provider 107 can retrieve and process network resources, such as web sites, on behalf of client computing devices 102. The network computing provider 107 utilizes a network browser component to process some or all of the web site in parallel with, or instead of, the client computing device 102. The network browser can be preconfigured and optimized for a particular web site or group of web sites. A browser virtual machine image 186 of the customized browser can be generated by the virtual machine manager 182, and the browser virtual machine image 186 can be deployed to any number of physical computing systems 184. Once the browser virtual machine image 186 is loaded on a physical computing system 184, the customized browser can be launched, resulting in a browser instance optimized for a web site or group of web sites immediately upon startup.

In operation, the virtual machine manager 182 can manage the creation and deployment of browser virtual machine images 186. A user, customer, administrator, automated process, or other agent may request a customized browser for a particular web site. To create browser virtual machine images 186, the virtual machine manager 182 can obtain data regarding the web site or group of web sites for which to customize a browser. For example, if the virtual machine manager 182 is to customize a browser for a particular news web site, the virtual machine manager 182 can retrieve any embedded resources, such as images, style sheets, etc. that will be required to respond to a request for the news web site, and the virtual machine manager 182 can preload those files into the browser. The virtual machine manager 182 can also adjust the settings of the browser to improve the user experience during video playback if the news web site is primarily a video news site. Any number of settings can be altered to create a customized browser. In some embodiments, browser components may be added to or removed from the browser, or the software code of the browser may be modified.

FIG. 1C illustrates a detailed view of the virtual machine manager 182 of FIG. 1B. The virtual machine manager 182 can include any number of modules, such as an image creation module 192, a forecasting and deployment module 194, an instance selection module 196, and an analysis and optimization module 198. The modules of the virtual machine manager 182 can be implemented as hardware or software. In one embodiment, the virtual machine manager 182 is loaded onto one or more physical computing systems 184, illustrated in FIG. 1B, and the various modules can be software modules executing as server processes on the physical computing systems 184. Alternative configurations of the virtual machine manger 182 are possible, and the description herein is meant to be illustrative and not limiting.

The image creation module 192 can manage the creation of new browser virtual machine images 186 by first obtaining information regarding a particular web site or group of web sites for which to configure a browser and create an image. The information can include the address of a specific web site for which to customize a browser. In some embodiments, the data can include a characteristic of a group of web sites upon which to focus the customization efforts. For example, the image creation module can create one browser virtual machine image 186 containing a browser customized to process and render video-heavy web sites, and another virtual machine image 186 containing a browser customized to process and render a single specific news web site.

The routine utilized by image creation module 192 to create browser virtual machine images 186 is described in detail below with respect to FIG. 12. Generally described, the process for creating browser virtual machine images 186 containing a customized browser configured for a specific web site includes retrieving embedded resources and other data that the web site typically utilizes, and processing the embedded resources and other data so that when the browser virtual machine image 186 is instantiated on a physical computing system 184, the browser is ready to display the web site immediately, or substantially immediately. For example, if many or all requests for a web page will eventually result in the download of a predetermined Javascript file, the Javascript file can downloaded and included in the browser virtual machine image 186. This process can be different than caching the Javascript file, because a cached Javascript file is typically stored as plain text and is therefore not immediately executable. Instead, the virtual machine manager 182 can instruct the network browser to compile the Javascript, and the compiled Javascript can be stored in such a way that when the browser virtual machine image 186 is instantiated, the Javascript has not only been downloaded, but has already been compiled and is ready for immediate execution.

The forecasting and deployment module 194 can forecast the demand for particular web sites, and deploy additional or fewer copies of a browser virtual machine image 186 to physical computing systems 184 or other components of the network computing provider 107 based on the forecasted demand. In order to determine a forecasted demand, the forecasting and deployment module 194 can obtain information regarding the current browsing traffic for any number of web sites, the browsing traffic through the network computing provider 107, etc. The information can be observed in real time by using a server process on the network computing provider 107 to monitor the browsing traffic. In some embodiments, the forecasting and deployment module 194 can be provided with such information as observed or estimated by a person or automated process. Utilizing current browsing traffic data, and in some cases historical browsing traffic data, the forecasting and deployment module 194 can forecast future demands for web sites or types of web sites. The forecast can be made by utilizing a forecasting or machine learning algorithm, statistical methods, etc. The forecasting and deployment module 194 can then adjust the deployment of specific browser virtual machine images 186 based on that forecast. For example, if the demand for a specific web site is forecasted to fall below a threshold, the forecasting and deployment module 194 can reduce the number of deployed browser virtual machine images 186 containing browsers customized for that specific web site. If the demand for video-based web sites is forecasted to exceed a threshold, the forecasting and deployment module 194 can deploy additional browser virtual machine images 186 containing browsers customized for video-based web sites. In some embodiments, the number of additional browser virtual machine images 186 deployed can be calculated by the forecasting and deployment module 194 in order to keep the amount of traffic that a particular server and/or virtual machine handles within a desirable range. In some embodiments, some or all of the various browser virtual machine images 186 may be configured to specifically target certain hardware for deployment, such as hardware with a minimum amount of memory, a minimum processor speed, etc. The hardware profile can be chosen to further optimize the execution of the customized browser.

The instance selection module 196 can route requests for network resources to browser instances optimized for the network resource. For example, the image creation module 192 may have created a browser virtual machine image 186 containing a browser customized for a specific news website, and the forecasting and deployment module 194 may have deployed the browser virtual machine image 186 on one or more servers. In response to receiving request for that specific news site, the instance selection module 196 can route the request to the server upon which the browser virtual machine image 186 created to process requests for the specific news site has been deployed. If there is no deployed browser virtual machine image 186 for a particular request, either because one has not been deployed or because one has not been created, then the instance selection module 196 can route the request to a standard browser for processing. In some embodiments, the instance selection module 196 can be configured to track the incoming requests and provide the information to the forecasting and deployment module 194. The operation of the instance selection module 196 is described in detail herein with respect to FIG. 13.

The analysis and optimization module 198 can analyze browsing traffic and patterns, and when it determines that a particular web site or group of web sites without a corresponding browser virtual machine image 186 is experiencing an increase in traffic, the analysis and optimization module 198 can automatically initiate the process of creating an optimized browser image for the web site. An example routine of the analysis and optimization module 198 is described in detail herein with respect to FIG. 14. Generally described, the analysis and optimization module 198 can work in concert with the other modules of the virtual machine manager 182. For example, the analysis and optimization module 198 can be configured to monitor the browsing requests received by the network computing provider 107 and determine whether there is a new site with high traffic that might benefit from having a browser preconfigured for the new site. If there is such a new site, the analysis and optimization module 198 can request or command the image creation module 192 to create a browser virtual machine image 186 for the new site. Alternatively, the analysis and optimization module 198 can be configured to receive traffic data from the forecasting and deployment module 194 or some other component, analyze the traffic information and information regarding the new site, and automatically generate a browser virtual machine image 186.

With reference now to FIGS. 2-6, the interaction between various components of the networked computing environment 100 of FIG. 1A will be illustrated. Specifically, FIGS. 2-6 illustrate the interaction between various components of the networked computing environment 100 for the exchange of content between a client computing device 102 and a content provider 104 via the network computing provider 107. For purposes of the example, the illustrations have been simplified such that many of the components utilized to facilitate communications are not shown. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that such components can be utilized and that additional interactions would accordingly occur without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 2, the process can begin with the generation and processing of a browse session request from a client computing device 102 to a network computing provider 107 will be described. Illustratively, the client computing device 102 may load a browser for viewing network content in response to an event or user request. Subsequent to the browser being loaded, the browser may be implemented to request a new browse session. From the perspective of the user of the client computing device, the request for the new browse session corresponds to the intended request to transmit the request to one or more corresponding content providers 104. Illustratively, this request may be generated automatically as a result of the browser loading (e.g., a request for a default or “home” page), or may be generated as a result of a user following a link or entering a network address into an address bar. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the browse session request is transmitted first to a network computing provider 107. In an illustrative embodiment, the network computing provider 107 utilizes a registration application program interface (“API”) to accept browse session requests from the client computing device 102. The browse session request can include network address information corresponding to a requested network resource, which may be in any form, including, but not limited to, an Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, a URL, a Media Access Control (“MAC”) address, etc.

Subsequent to the receipt of the browse session request, the network computing provider 107 may select an associated network computing component (hereinafter “NCC”) point of presence (hereinafter “POP”) such as NCC POP 142 to service the browse session request. The selection of the NCC POP may determine the processing and network resources available to the instantiated virtual machine. The selection of processing and network resources and the provisioning of software at the NCC POP instance may be done, at least in part, in order to optimize communication with content providers 104 and client computing devices 102. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the identification data received with the browse session request can be passed to the NCC POP instance servicing the browse session request.

With reference to FIG. 3, an illustrative interaction for generation and processing of a request for a network resource from a network computing provider 107 to a content provider 104 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the selected NCC POP 142 may generate a browse session corresponding to one or more content providers based on a browse session request, such as the illustrative browse session request depicted in FIG. 2 above. Illustratively, instantiating a new browse session instance may include loading a new virtual machine instance, browser virtual machine instance, and/or browser instance at the NCC POP 142, reserving or allocating device memory, storage or cache space, processor time, network bandwidth, or other computational or network resources for the new browse session.

Subsequent to initializing a new browse session instance, NCC POP 142 may provide a request for a network resource to a content provider 104 based on a network address included in the browse session request. For example, a browse session request may include a URL for a Web page, such as “http://www.xyzsite.com/default.htm.” NCC POP 142 may resolve the URL to an IP address through a DNS resolver associated with the network computing provider (not shown), and may request the Web page from the content provider 104 at the resolved IP address. In various embodiments, a network resource may be retrieved from any combination of content providers, content delivery network (hereinafter “CDN”) servers, or caches associated with the network computing provider 107. For example, the network computing provider may check if a resource is stored in a local cache or in another server or service provider associated with the network computing provider 107. If a network resource is stored in a local or associated location, the NCC POP 142 may retrieve the network resource from the local or associated location rather than from the third party content provider 104 or CDN service provider 106. Illustratively, the NCC POP 142 may provide requests for any number of network resources as included in the browse session request, and may obtain these network resources from any number of different sources, sequentially or in parallel.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the content provider 104 receives the resource request from the NCC POP 142 and processes the request accordingly. In one embodiment, the content provider 104 processes the resource request as if it were originally provided by the client computing device 102. For example, the content provider 104 may select the type of content, ordering of content, or version of content according to the requirements of the requesting client computing device 102. In another embodiment, the content provider 104 may be provided with information that provides information associated with the NCC POP 142 for utilization in providing the requested content (e.g., an available amount of processing resources or network bandwidth).

Subsequent to obtaining the requested network resource from the content provider 104 (or other source designated by the content provider), the NCC POP 142 may process the network resource to extract embedded resource identifiers and gather information for determination of a remote session browsing configuration. For example, a network resource such as a Web page may include embedded CSS style information and Javascript as well as embedded resource identifiers to additional resources such as text, images, video, audio, animation, executable code, and other HTML, CSS, and Javascript files. In the process of extracting the embedded resource identifiers, the NCC POP 142 may gather information about the processed network resources for later use in the determination of a remote session browsing configuration as discussed below with reference to FIG. 4.

With reference to FIG. 4, an illustrative interaction for generation and processing of one or more requests corresponding to one or more embedded resources from a network computing provider to a content provider and content delivery network is disclosed. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the selected NCC POP 142 may provide resource requests to one or more sources of content such as content provider 104 and CDN POP 116. The resource requests may correspond to embedded resources based on one or more embedded resource identifiers extracted from a requested network resource (e.g., a Web page) as described in FIG. 3 above. In various embodiments, embedded resources may be retrieved from any combination of content providers, CDN servers, or caches associated with the network computing provider 107. For example, the network computing provider may check if an embedded resource is stored in a local cache or in another server or service provider associated with the network computing provider 107. If an embedded resource is stored in a local or associated location, the NCC POP 142 may retrieve the embedded resource from the local or associated location rather than the third party content provider or CDN. Illustratively, the NCC POP 142 may provide requests for any number of embedded resources referenced by a network resource, and may obtain these embedded resources from any number of different sources, sequentially or in parallel. Subsequent to obtaining the requested resources, the NCC POP 142 may process the resources and requested content to determine a remote session browsing configuration for the processing and communication of content to the client computing device 102.

With reference to FIG. 5, an illustrative interaction for generation and processing of processing results and user interaction data between a network computing provider and client computing device is disclosed. As previously described, in one embodiment, the respective browsers on the instantiated network computing component and the client computing device 102 can exchange browsers' session information related to the allocation and processing of the requested resources at the instantiated network computing component and client computing device. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the selected NCC POP 142 may provide an initial processing result to the client computing device 102 over the network 108. The initial processing result may correspond to requested network content, such as a Web page, along with associated embedded resources processed by the NCC POP 142 in accordance with a selected remote session browsing configuration as described in FIG. 4 above. The NCC POP 142 also makes a determination of which additional processes will be conducted at the NCC POP 142, at the client computing device 102, or both, as illustrated in FIG. 5. Subsequent to receiving an initial processing result and the allocation of processes, the client computing device 102 may perform any remaining processing actions on the initial processing result as required by the selected remote session browsing configuration, and may display the fully processed content in a content display area of a browser. The client computing device 102 may process any local user interactions with local interface components or content elements locally, and may provide user interactions requiring remote processing to the network computing provider 107. The network computing provider 107 may provide updated processing results to the client computing device 102 in response to changes to the content or remote user interaction data from the client computing device 102.

With reference to FIG. 6, a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1A illustrating the generation and processing of an additional new browse session request from a client computing device to a network computing provider is disclosed. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a second new browse session request may be sent to network computing provider 107 from client computing device 102 across network 108. In an illustrative embodiment, the network computing provider 107 utilizes a registration API to accept browse session requests from the client computing device 102.

The additional browse session request may be generated by a client computing device 102 in response to a user opening up a new browser window with a new content display area, opening a new content display area in an existing browser window (e.g., opening a new tab in a browser), requesting new network content in an existing content display area (e.g., following a link to a new network resource, or entering a new network address into the browser), or any other user interaction. For example, a user browsing a first Web page corresponding to a first browse session instance may follow a link that opens a new tab or browser window to view a second Web page. In one embodiment, any required steps of obtaining and processing content associated with the second Web page may be performed by the currently instantiated network computing component in which the browser can handle the processing of both resource requests. In another embodiment, the client computing device 102 request may be processed as a new browse session request to the network computing provider 107, including the network address of the second Web page. In this embodiment, the browser on the client computing device may not specifically request a separate browse session, and a user's interaction with the browser on the client computing device 102 may appear to be part of a same browsing session. As described above with regard to FIGS. 2 and 3, the network computing provider 107 may cause an instantiation of a network computing component for obtaining and processing content associated with the second web page. In other embodiments, a new browse session request may be generated by the client computing device 102 corresponding to sections of a network resource (e.g., frames of a Web page), individual network resources, or embedded resources themselves, data objects included in a set of content, or individual network resources.

Illustratively, the additional browse session request may include any number of pieces of data or information including, but not limited to, information associated with a user, information associated with the client computing device 102 (e.g., hardware or software information, a device physical or logical location, etc.), information associated with the network 108, user or browser preferences (e.g., a requested remote session browse protocol, a preference list, a decision tree, or other information), information associated with the network computing provider 107, information associated with one or more pieces of requested network content (e.g., the network address of a network resource), etc. Requested content may include any manner of digital content, including Web pages or other documents, text, images, video, audio, executable scripts or code, or any other type of digital resource.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, subsequent to the receipt of the browse session request the network computing provider 107 may select an associated network computing component such as NCC POP 142 to service the browse session request. As discussed above with reference to FIG. 2, a network computing provider 107 may select an NCC POP to service a browse session request based on any number of factors, including, but not limited to available NCC POP resources (e.g., available memory, processor load, network load, etc), a financial cost of servicing the browse session request at the NCC POP, the NCC POP location respective to a client computing device 102, content provider 112, or CDN POP 116, a NCC POP cache status (e.g., whether a requested resource is already stored in an NCC POP cache), etc. In one embodiment, the network computing provider 107 may select a number of NCC POPs to service a browse session request. Illustratively, although the network computing provider 107 is depicted here for purposes of illustration as selecting NCC POP 142, the network computing provider 107 may select any extant NCC POP to service the browse session request. For example, a single client computing device 102 may simultaneously or sequentially provide three different browse session requests to the network computing provider 107 corresponding to different network resources. The network computing provider 107 may select different NCC POPs for each browse session request, the same NCC POP for all three browse session requests, or any combination thereof. As discussed above, the decision whether to select a different NCC POP than was utilized for a previous or simultaneous browse session request may be made on the basis of available system resources, randomly, or according to any other factor as discussed above and with regards to FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a user interface diagram depicting an illustrative browser interface and display of browse session content. As described above with reference to FIG. 5, a browser 700 may have a content display area 702, as well as one or more one or more local interface components. These local interface components may include toolbars, menus, buttons, address bars, scroll bars, window resize controls, or any other user interface controls. Illustratively, local interface components may be displayed as separate from the content display area 702 or may be overlaid or embedded in the content display area 702.

Interactions with local interface components may be treated as local user interactions or remote user interactions depending on the processing required by the interaction and the remote session browsing configuration. For example, the selection of a preferences option in a browser menu may be handled entirely as a local user interaction by a browser. The processing required to display the menu, provide visual feedback regarding the selection, display the preferences window, and process the changes made to the browser preferences may be performed locally. As discussed above, processing user interactions locally may provide greater responsiveness at the browser as opposed to sending user interaction data to the NCC POP 142 for processing. As another example, when using a remote session browsing configuration that specifies extensive processing on the NCC POP 142 (e.g., a remote session browsing configuration using a remote session communication protocol such as RDP), the selection of a content refresh button in a browser toolbar may be handled both as a local user interaction and a remote user interaction. The limited processing required to provide interface feedback corresponding to the button selection may be handled at the client computing device 102 in order to provide the appearance of interface responsiveness, while the refresh command, which may require processing of the network content displayed in the content display area of the browser, may be sent as user interaction data to the NCC POP 142 for processing. The NCC POP 142 may then transmit updated processing results corresponding to the refreshed network content back to the client computing device 102 for display.

FIG. 8 is a diagram depicting illustrative browser content processing actions as a series of processing subsystems 800. In many embodiments, a browser may process sets of content (e.g., network resources such as web pages and associated embedded resources) in a series of processing actions. Illustratively, and as described above with reference to FIGS. 3-5, a remote session browsing configuration may specify a split between processing actions performed at a network computing provider (e.g., an NCC POP) and processing actions performed at a client computing device 102. This split may designate some processing actions to be performed by each of the NCC POP and client computing device 102, or may assign all processing actions to a single device or component. For example, an NCC POP may perform all of these various processing actions at the browse session instance, and send fully processed RDP processing results to the client computing device 102 for bitmap assembly and display. Any number of different remote session browsing configurations may be used by one or more browse sessions instances running at an NCC POP.

One of skill in the relevant art will appreciate that the subsystems shown here are depicted for the purpose of illustration, and are not intended to describe a necessary order or a definitive list of browser subsystems. Various browser software components may implement additional or fewer browser subsystems than are shown here, and may order the subsystems or corresponding processing actions in any number of different ways. Although the processing subsystems 800 depicted here for purposes of illustration are directed at the processing of Web pages or other Web content, one of skill in the relevant art will appreciate that the processing of other file types or network resources may be broken up in a similar manner. For example, one of skill in the relevant art will appreciate that a similar schema may be developed for the processing of images, video, audio, database information, 3d design data, or any other file format or type of data known in the art. Similar schema may also be developed for any number of device operating system or software framework processing operations, such as scheduling, memory or file management, system resource management, process or service execution or management, etc. Further, although the HTML protocol and RDP remote session communication protocols are discussed herein for the purposes of example, one of skill in the relevant art will appreciate that a remote session browsing configuration may implement any number of remote communication protocols for any number of specified processing actions, and that a remote session browsing configuration may be formulated to perform any fraction or combination of the actions identified below at any combination of the client computing device 102 and network computing provider 107.

Illustratively, the first processing subsystem involved in the processing and display of network content is the networking subsystem 802. Illustratively, the networking subsystem 802 may be responsible for all communication between the browser and content provider, including local caching of Web content. The networking subsystem is generally limited by the performance of the user's network. A remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at the networking subsystem 802 might include a remote session browsing configuration utilizing an HTML remote session communication protocol, where one or more caching or resource retrieval actions were performed at the NCC POP, but parsing and processing of the content was performed at the client computing device.

As network resources such as HTML documents are downloaded from the server they may be passed to an HTML subsystem 804 which parses the document, initiates additional downloads in the networking subsystem, and creates a structural representation of the document. Modern browsers may also contain related subsystems which are used for XHTML, XML and SVG documents. A remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at the HTML subsystem 804 might include a remote session browsing configuration utilizing an HTML remote session communication protocol, where an initial HTML page is processed at the NCC POP in order to extract embedded resource identifiers, but additional parsing and processing of the content is performed at the client computing device. In another embodiment, a remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at the HTML subsystem 804 might perform initial processing to create the structural representation of the HTML document, and provides a processing result including the structural representation and associated embedded resources to the client computing device for processing.

When CSS is encountered, whether inside an HTML document or an embedded CSS document, it may be passed to a CSS subsystem 806 to parse the style information and create a structural representation that can be referenced later. Illustratively, a remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at a CSS subsystem 806 may construct a processing result including the CSS structural representation and HTML structural representation, and provide the processing result and associated embedded resources to the client computing device for processing.

HTML documents often contain metadata, for example the information described in a document header or the attributes applied to an element. The collections subsystem 808 may be responsible for storing and accessing this metadata. A remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at a collections subsystem 808 may construct a processing result including processed metadata along with any other structural representations discussed above, and provide the processing result and associated embedded resources to the client computing device for processing.

When Javascript is encountered, it may be passed directly to a JavaScript subsystem 810 responsible for executing the script. The Javascript subsystem 810 has been examined fully over the years, and may be one of the most well known browser subsystems in the art. A remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at a Javascript subsystem 810 may construct a processing result including an internal representation of one or more Javascript scripts, including, but not limited to state data or a representation of the script in a native or intermediate form, as well as any other processed structures or data discussed above, and provide the processing result and associated embedded resources to the client computing device for processing.

Because many JavaScript engines are not directly integrated into the browser, there may be a communication layer including the marshalling subsystem 812 between the browser and the script engine. Passing information through this communication layer may generally be referred to as marshaling. A remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at a marshalling subsystem 812 may construct a processing result including marshalling data as well as any other processed structures, scripts, or data discussed above, and provide the processing result and associated embedded resources to the client computing device for processing.

In some embodiments, JavaScript interacts with an underlying network resource such as a Web document through the Document Object Model APIs. These APIs may be provided through a native object model subsystem 814 that knows how to access and manipulate the document and is the primary interaction point between the script engine and the browser. Illustratively, a remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at a native object model subsystem 814 may construct a processing result including native object model state data or API calls as well as any other processed structures, scripts, or data discussed above, and provide the processing result and any other associated embedded resources to the client computing device for processing.

Once the document is constructed, the browser may needs to apply style information before it can be displayed to the user. The formatting subsystem 816 takes the HTML document and applies styles. Illustratively, a remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at a formatting subsystem 816 may construct a processing result including an HTML representation with applied styles, as well as any other processed state data, API calls, structures, scripts, or data discussed above, and provide the processing result and any other associated embedded resources to the client computing device for processing.

In one embodiment, CSS is a block based layout system. After the document is styled, the next step, at a block building subsystem 818, may be to construct rectangular blocks that will be displayed to the user. This process may determine things like the size of the blocks and may be tightly integrated with the next stage, layout. A remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at a block building subsystem 818 may construct a processing result including block information, as well as any other processed state data, API calls, structures, scripts, or data discussed above, and provide the processing result and any other associated embedded resources to the client computing device for processing.

Subsequent to the browser styling the content and constructing the blocks, it may go through the process of laying out the content. The layout subsystem 820 is responsible for this algorithmically complex process. Illustratively, a remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at a layout subsystem 820 may process the various state data, API calls, structures, scripts, or data discussed above to construct a processing result including layout information for the client computing device. Illustratively, an NCC POP may make use of various data or settings associated with the client computing device or browser (e.g., as provided in the initial browse session request) in order to generate a suitable layout for the client computing device. For example, a mobile device may provide a screen resolution and a display mode to the NCC POP. The NCC POP may base layout calculations on this screen resolution and display mode in order to generate a processing result corresponding to a content representation suitable for a browser running on the mobile device. Illustratively, in various embodiments, any other subsystem implemented by the NCC POP may make use of data associated with the client computing device or browser in generating a processing result for the client.

The final stage of the process may occur inside the display subsystem 822 where the final content is displayed to the user. This process is often referred to as drawing. A remote session browsing configuration that splits processing actions at the networking subsystem 802 might include a remote session browsing configuration utilizing an RDP remote session communication protocol, where nearly all processing is performed at the NCC POP, and a processing result including bitmap data and low level interface data are passed to the client computing device for display.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrative of a new browse session routine 900 implemented by network computing provider 107 of FIG. 1A. New browse session routine 900 begins at block 902. At block 904, the network computing provider 107 receives a new browse session request from client computing device 102. As previously described, the client computing device 102 may load a browser for viewing network content in response to an event or user request. Subsequent to the browser being loaded, the browser may be implemented request a new browse session. From the perspective of the user of the client computing device, the request for the new browse session corresponds to the intended request to transmit the request to one or more corresponding content providers 104. Illustratively, this request may be generated automatically as a result of the browser loading (e.g., a request for a default or “home” page), or may be generated as a result of a user following a link or entering a network address into an address bar. This browse session request may include one or more addresses or references to various network resources or other content requested by the client computing device 102. In an illustrative embodiment, the browse session request is transmitted in accordance with an API.

At block 906 the network computing provider 107 may select an associated NCC POP to instantiate a new browse session based on the browse session request. As discussed above with reference to FIG. 1A, a network computing provider 107 may include any number of NCC POPs distributed across any number of physical or logical locations. A network computing provider 107 may select a NCC POP to service a browse session request based on any number of factors, including, but not limited to available NCC POP resources (e.g., available memory, processor load, network load, etc.), a financial cost of servicing the browse session request at the NCC POP, the NCC POP location respective to a client computing device 102, content provider 104, or CDN POP 116, a NCC POP cache status (e.g., whether a requested resource is already stored in an NCC POP cache), the availability of a browser virtual machine image 186 of a browsing application customized for the type of network resource requested, etc.

In one embodiment, the network computing provider 107 may select a number of NCC POPs to service a browse session request. For example, the network computing provider 107 may select two NCC POPs with different logical locations in the network. Each NCC POP may independently request and process network content on the behalf of the client computing device 102, and the client computing device 102 may accept data from the first NCC POP to return a processing result. Subsequent to being selected by the network computing provider 107, NCC POP 142 may obtain the browse session request. In one embodiment, NCC POP 142 may have the browse session request forwarded to it by a component of network computing provider 107. In another embodiment, NCC POP 142 or client computing device 102 may receive connection information allowing the establishment of direct communication between NCC POP 142 and client computing device 102. Illustratively, NCC POP 142 may be provided with the browse session request originally provided to network computing provider 107, may be provided with a subset of information (e.g., just a network address of requested content), or may be provided additional information not included in the original browse session request.

Subsequent to the NCC POP 142 being selected, the network computing provider 107 may cause the NCC POP 142 to instantiate a new browse session. Illustratively, instantiating a new browse session instance may include loading a new virtual machine instance, browser virtual machine instance, and/or browser instance at the NCC POP 142, reserving or allocating device memory, storage or cache space, processor time, network bandwidth, or other computational or network resources for the new browse session. Illustratively, one or more characteristics of the new browse session instance and/or browser instance may be based on client computing device 102 information included in the browse session request. For example, the browse session request may include a device type or browser type, a device screen resolution, a browser display area, or other information defining the display preferences or capabilities of the client computing device 102 or browser. The NCC POP 142 may accordingly instantiate a virtual machine instance, browser virtual machine instance, and/or a browser instance with the same or similar capabilities as the client computing device 102. Illustratively, maintaining a virtual machine instance, browser virtual machine instance, and/or browser with the same or similar capabilities as the client computing device 102 may allow the NCC POP 142 to process network content according to the appropriate dimensions and layout for display on the particular client computing device 102.

In some embodiments, the NCC POP 142 may utilize an existing virtual machine instance, browser virtual machine instance, and/or browser instance in addition to, or as an alternative to, instating a new browse session. For example, subsequent to the NCC POP 142 being selected, the network computing provider 107 may cause the NCC POP 142 to associate an existing browser instance, browser virtual machine instance, and/or virtual machine instance, such as one or more instances previously instantiated at the NCC POP 142, with the new browse session request. Illustratively, an existing browser session, browser virtual machine instance, and/or virtual machine instance may correspond to another browse session, remote application session, or other remote process associated with the user or client computing device 102, or may be a previously instantiated software instance from an unrelated browse session or remote process. In other embodiments, the NCC POP 142 may instantiate a new browser or other application process in an existing virtual machine instance, or may combine the utilization of previously instantiated and newly instantiated software processes in any number of other ways. In still further embodiments, the network computing provider or NCC POP 142 may instantiate any number of new virtual machine instances, browser virtual machine instances, and/or browser instances (or make use of existing instantiated instances) based on a single browse session request.

At block 908 the network computing provider 107 may provide a request for one or more network resources to a content provider or CDN service provider based on a network address included in the browse session request. In various embodiments, one or more network resources may be additionally or alternately retrieved from a cache local to the NCC POP 142 or otherwise associated with the network computing provider 107. One of skill in the art will appreciate that, in the case of other embodiments, the link or network address may correspond to a document or file stored in a digital file locker or other network storage location or at a cache component associated with the network computing provider 107 or client computing device 102. In some embodiments, the new session request may include a document or file in addition to or as an alternative to a network address. At block 910, the network computing provider 107 obtains the one or more network resources. Subsequent to obtaining the requested network resource, the NCC POP 142 may process the network resource to extract embedded resource identifiers.

At block 912, the network computing provider 107 may provide resource requests to one or more sources of content such as content providers, CDN service providers, and caches. The resource requests may correspond to embedded resources based on the one or more embedded resource identifiers extracted from the one or more network resource as described in block 910 above. At block 914, the network computing provider 107 may obtain these embedded resources from any number of different sources, sequentially or in parallel.

At block 916, the network computing provider 107 may process the one or more network resources and associated embedded resources to determine a remote session browsing configuration for the processing and communication of content to the client computing device 102. A remote session browsing configuration may include any proprietary or public remote protocol allowing exchange of data and user interactions or requests between a client and a remote server. The remote session browsing configuration may illustratively include both a remote session communication protocol and a processing schema for providing processed (or unprocessed) content to a client computing device for display in the content display area of a browser.

Illustratively, a remote session browsing configuration may define or specify a remote session communication protocol, including, but not limited to, a network protocol, signaling model, transport mechanism, or encapsulation format for the exchange of state data, user interactions, and other data and content between the network computing provider and the client computing device. Examples of remote session communication protocols known in the art include Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), X-Windows protocol, Virtual Network Computing (VNC) protocol, Remote Frame Buffer protocol, HTML, etc. For example, RDP illustratively specifies a number of processing mechanisms for encoding client input (e.g., mouse movement, keyboard input, etc.) into protocol data units for provision to a remote computing device, and corresponding mechanisms for sending bitmap updates and low level interface information back to the client device. As another example, the HTML protocol illustratively provides a mechanism for providing files defining interface information and containing resources references from a server to a client, and a corresponding mechanism for a client computing device to provide requests for additional files and resources to the server. In one embodiment, the NCC POP 142 may provide an initial communication to the client computing device 102 after determining the remote session communication protocol. This initial communication may allow the client computing device 102 to prepare to receive communications in the selected remote session communication protocol, and, in the case of pull remote session communication protocols like HTTP, may cause the client computing device to send an initial resource request to the browse session instance running on the NCC POP 142.

Each remote session browsing configuration may additionally define a split of processing actions between the network computing and storage service (e.g., NCC POP 142) and the client computing device (e.g., client computing device 102). In one embodiment, a particular split of processing actions may be based on or mandated by a particular remote session communication protocol. In another embodiment, a remote session communication protocol may allow several different splits of processing actions depending on the implementation or configuration of the protocol. For the purpose of illustration, many pieces of network content (e.g., Web pages, video, Flash documents) may require various processing actions before being displayed on a computing device. A Web page, for example, may be parsed to process various HTML layout information and references to associated resources or embedded content such as CSS style sheets and Javascript, as well as embedded content objects such as images, video, audio, etc. The HTML and each referenced object or piece of code will typically be parsed and processed before a representative object model corresponding to the Web page may be constructed. This object model may then be processed further for layout and display in a content display area of a browser at the client computing device 102. Illustrative browser processing actions are described in greater detail below with reference to FIG. 8. One of skill in the art will appreciate that, in the case of other embodiments or applications, various other processing actions may be required.

A remote session browsing configuration may specify that various of the processing actions required for display of piece of network content be performed at the remote computing device, such as the NCC POP 142, rather than at the client computing device 102. Network content partially (or wholly) processed at the network computing provider may be referred to as a processing result. As discussed below, the split of processing actions may be associated with or linked to the remote session communication protocol used for exchanging data and client input between the NCC POP 142 and client computing device 102.

For example, a remote session communication protocol such as RDP that transmits a processing result including low level interface information and bitmaps to the client computing device 142 for display may be associated with a remote session browsing configuration that specifies performing all, or nearly all, of the necessary content processing actions at the NCC POP 142. While using RDP, the NCC POP 142 may, for example, run a full instance of a browser the NCC POP 142 and transmit a processing result consisting of bitmap updates corresponding to a representation of the displayed content to the client computing device 102. The client computing device 102, in this example, may merely be required to assemble the transmitted bitmap updates for display in the content display area of the browser, and may perform none of the processing of the actual HTML, Javascript, or data objects involved in the display of an illustrative piece of network content. As another example, a remote session browsing configuration utilizing a remote session communication protocol such as HTML may transmit network content in a largely unprocessed form. The client computing device 102 may thus perform all of the processing actions required for display of network content while the NCC POP 142 performs little or no processing.

The NCC POP 142 may base its determination of a remote session browsing configuration on any number of factors, including, but not limited to, one or more characteristics of one or more of the requested resources, content provider 104, or CDN service provider 106, one or more characteristics of the content address or domain, one or more characteristics of the client computing device 102, browser or application, user, one or more characteristics of the NCC POP 142, or one or more characteristics of the network or network connection, etc. Characteristics of requested resources may include, but are not limited to, a data format, a content type, a size, processing requirements, resource latency requirements, a number or type of interactive elements, a security risk, an associated user preference, a network address, a network domain, an associated content provider, etc. Characteristics of a content provider 104, CDN service provider 106, computing device 102, or NCC POP 142 may include, but are not limited to, processing power, memory, storage, network connectivity (e.g., available bandwidth or latency), a physical or logical location, predicted stability or risk of failure, a software or hardware profile, available resources (e.g., available memory or processing, or the number of concurrently open software applications), etc. The NCC POP 142 may further consider perceived security threats or risks associated with a piece of content or domain, preferences of a client computing device or a content provider, computing or network resource costs (e.g., a financial cost of processing or bandwidth, resource usage, etc.), predetermined preferences or selection information, any additional processing overhead required by a particular remote session browsing configuration, a cache status (e.g., whether a particular resources is cached at a NCC POP 142, at the client computing device 102, or at other network storage associated with the network computing provider), a predicted delay or time required to retrieve requested network content, a preferred content provider or agreements with a content provider for a particular remote session browsing configuration or level of service, a remote session browsing configuration being used for another (or the current) browse session by the same user, or any other factor.

In some embodiments, an NCC POP 142 may base a determination of a remote session browsing configuration on past behavior or practice. For example, an NCC POP 142 that has determined a remote browse session configuration for a particular resource in the past may automatically select the same remote browse session configuration when the resource is requested by the same (or potentially a different) user. As another example, a user that has a history of frequently accessing Web sites with extensive processing requirements may automatically be assigned a remote session browsing configuration that performs the majority of processing at the NCC POP 142. In other embodiments, an NCC POP 142 may base a determination of a remote browse session configuration on predictions of future behavior. For example, an NCC POP 142 may base its determination of a remote browse session configuration for a particular resource on an analysis of past determinations made for a particular Web site, network domain, or set of related resources. A content provider that historically has provided video-heavy Web pages may be associated with a remote session browsing configuration that emphasizes video performance at the client computing device 102. Illustratively, past historical analysis and future predictions may be considered as one or more of a number of factors on which to base the remote session browsing configuration determination process, or may be definitive in the decision making process. For example, once an NCC POP 142 determines a remote session browsing configuration for a particular content provider, it may skip the remote session browsing configuration determination process for any future resources served from the content provider. Illustratively, the NCC POP 142 may re-determine a remote session browsing configuration to be associated with the content provider after a fixed period of time, or after the NCC POP 142 has identified or determined a change in the content being served by the content provider.

In other embodiments, a network resource, Web site, network domain, content provider, or other network entity may specify or otherwise request the use of a particular remote browse session configuration in a resource tag, metadata, or other communication with an NCC POP 142. The NCC POP 142 may treat the request as definitive, or may consider the request as one of multiple factors to be considered in the decision making process.

For example, a remote session browsing configuration utilizing a remote session communication protocol such as RDP may specify extensive processing to occur at the network computing provider 107 (e.g., at NCC POP 142) rather than at the client computing device 102. The remote session browsing configuration may thus leverage the processing power of the NCC POP 142 to achieve lower latencies and presentation delay when dealing with network content that requires a great deal of pre-processing (e.g., content with a great deal of CSS or Javascript information defining page layout). The NCC POP 142 may therefore select a remote session browsing configuration that performs a substantial amount of processing at the network computing provider 107 and utilizes RDP or a similar remote session communication protocol for communication of processing-intensive content. Conversely, a remote session browsing configuration that utilizes a remote session communication protocol such as HTML may specify extensive processing at the client computing device 102 rather than at the network computing provider 107. The remote session communication protocol may thus achieve smaller delays and smoother presentation when presented with simple network content that requires very little processing or network content that requires rapid change in displayed content after its initial load. For example, a Web page with embedded video may perform better performing the majority of processing locally and utilizing HTML rather than RDP as a remote session communication protocol. A remote session browsing configuration specifying extensive processing at the network computing provider 107 must process the video at the NCC POP 142 and rapidly send screen updates (e.g. by RDP) to the client computing device 102, potentially requiring a great deal of bandwidth and causing choppy playback in the browser, while a remote session browsing configuration specifying local processing may provide raw video information directly to the client computing device 102 for display (e.g. by HTML), allowing for client side caching and a smoother playback of content.

As a further example, the NCC POP 142 in communication with a client computing device 102 with extremely limited processing power may elect to use a remote session browsing configuration that requires very little processing by the client computing device, for example, using RDP to transmit NCC POP 142 processed results. Conversely, an NCC POP 142 providing an extremely interactive Web page may elect to use a remote session browsing configuration that allows the client computing device 102 to handle user interactions locally in order to preserve interface responsiveness, for example, using HTML to transmit substantially unprocessed data. As a still further example, a NCC POP 142 may base the determination of a remote session browse configuration on preferences provided by the client computing device 102. A client computing device 102 may illustratively include preferences for a remote session browse configuration in an initial browse session request, or at any other time. The NCC POP 142 may utilize these preferences as an alternative to, or in addition to any other factor or decision metric. Illustratively, allowing the client computing device 102 to set or influence the selection of a remote session browse configuration allows the NCC POP 142 to take user preferences in account when determining a remote session browse configuration. For example, a user worried about initial page load times may prefer to use a remote session browsing configuration heavy on remote processing and utilizing an RDP remote session communications protocol, while a user wishing to maintain an extremely responsive interface may prefer using a remote session browsing configuration that performs the majority of the processing on the client computing device 102, for example, using an HTML remote session communication protocol.

Illustratively, the NCC POP 142 may base a determination of a remote browsing configuration on any factor or combination of factors. For example, the NCC POP 142 may select a remote session browsing configuration based on a single factor, or may assign weights to one or more factors in making a determination. In some embodiments, the determination process of the NCC POP 142 may change based on one or more factors described above. For example, an NCC POP 142 communicating with a client computing device 102 over a network with a surplus of unused bandwidth may give a low weight to factors such as the network requirements of a remote browse session, and may give a higher weight to factors such as the latency of page interactions, while an NCC POP 142 communicating with a client computing device 102 over a limited bandwidth network may give a higher weight to factors dealing with the efficiency of the remote session browse protocol over a network.

In one embodiment, the NCC POP 142 may select a single remote session browsing configuration for a set of network content. For example, the NCC POP 142 may select a single remote session browsing configuration for a requested network resource such as a Web page. The NCC POP 142 may thus process the Web page together with all embedded content based on the selected remote browsing session protocol, and utilize the remote browsing session protocol to exchange user interaction data and updated browse session data for all embedded content associated with the Web page. In another embodiment, the NCC POP 142 may select different remote session browsing configurations for one or more resources in a set of network content. For example, a network resource such as a Web page may reference processing intensive embedded Javascript or CSS resources, as well as embedded video resources. The NCC POP 142 may select a first remote session browsing configuration for the Web page and all embedded resources excluding the embedded video resource, and a second remote session browsing configuration for the embedded video resource. Illustratively, this may result in the NCC POP 142 utilizing RDP to send a processing result to the client computing device 102 for display of the Web page and associated embedded resources, while utilizing HTTP to send the embedded video as a separate, unprocessed file. In one embodiment, the client computing device 102 may perform the minimal processing required to display the RDP processing result corresponding to the Web page and embedded resources, and may also perform additional processing necessary to display the embedded video, for example, overlaying the video on top of the displayed RDP representation of the Web page. Any number of remote session browsing configurations may be selected to correspond to any number of resources or objects included in a set of network content, regardless of whether resources or objects are obtained from a content provider 104 or CDN service provider 106 in one or more logical files or data structures.

Although the selection of a remote session browsing configuration is illustratively depicted herein as occurring after all network resources and associated embedded content have been obtained by the NCC POP 142, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the selection of a remote session browsing configuration may be performed at any time. For example, the NCC POP 142 may select a remote session browsing configuration after receiving a new browse session request or related information from the client computing device, may select a remote session browsing configuration after obtaining a network resource, but before obtaining any associated embedded resources, or at any other time. In some embodiments, the NCC POP 142 may switch to a new remote session browsing configuration at some time subsequent to the client computing device 102 obtaining an initial processing result. Illustratively, the NCC POP 142 selecting a new remote session browsing configuration may occur automatically after a certain time period or event or in response to a change in network conditions, NCC POP 142 or client computing device 102 load or computing resources, or any other factor described above as potentially influencing the choice of remote session browsing configuration. Illustratively, an NCC POP 142 dealing with other types or formats of information may select a remote session protocol based on any number of similar factors. For example, one of skill in the relevant art will appreciate that a similar schema may be developed for the processing of images, video, audio, database information, 3d design data, or any other file format or type of data known in the art.

The client computing device 102 may, in various embodiments, further instantiate a parallel browsing process sequentially or simultaneously with the request for a remote browse session. In one embodiment, a client computing device 102 may instantiate a traditional local browse session as known in the art (e.g., providing content requests from the browser and processing obtained resources locally) in addition to one or more remote browse instance executing at an NCC POP 142. In another embodiment, a client computing device 102 may be provided with unprocessed network resources by the NCC POP 142. Illustratively, the network resources may have been retrieved from one or more content providers, CDNs, or cache components by the NCC POP 142. The resources may be provided to the client computing device 102 to process locally in parallel with the remote browse instance executing at the NCC POP 142. In still further embodiments, the network computing provider or NCC POP 142 may instantiate any number of new virtual machine instances, browser virtual machine instances, and/or browser instances (or make use of existing instantiated instances) to process resources and/or send processing results to the client computing device 102 in parallel. Illustratively, the local browse session at the client computing device 102 and the remote browse session instance at the NCC POP 142 may execute in parallel.

In one embodiment, a local browse session executing at the client computing device 102 may obtain unprocessed content (e.g., html Web pages, embedded content, and other network resources) from the NCC POP 142 responsive to a browse session request. Illustratively, the content may have been retrieved by the NCC POP 142 from a content provider, CDN, or cache in response to the browse session request. The unprocessed content provided by the NCC POP 142 may include all the content associated with the browse session request or may supplement content existing in a cache of the client computing device, retrieved from a content provider or CDN, or obtained from some other source. In one embodiment, a client computing device 102 may obtain all requested content from a local cache, and may not obtain any unprocessed resources or content from the NCC POP 142. Subsequent to obtaining the unprocessed content, client computing device 102 may process the requested content in parallel with a remote browse session executing at the NCC POP 142. For example, as the local browse session executing at the client computing device 102 is processing the requested content, a remote browse session executing at the NCC POP 142 may be processing the same content at substantially the same time. Once the NCC POP 142 has performed a set of processing actions on the content to generate a processing result (e.g., as specified by a determined remote session browsing configuration), the NCC POP 142 may provide the processing result to the client computing device 102.

For the purpose of illustration, a client computing device 102 may require a longer load time to obtain and process requested network resources than a browse session instance running at the NCC POP 142. For example, the NCC POP 142 may obtain and process content quickly due to its position on the network and the relative processing power of the local client computing device as compared to the NCC POP 142. Even if the NCC POP 142 provides the client computing device 102 with all requested network content, the client computing device 102 may still obtain a processing result from NCC POP 142 before the local browse session has fully completed processing the requested resources. The client computing device 102 may complete any further processing steps and display the obtained processing result before completing local processing and display of the content. Illustratively, this may allow the client computing device 102 to take advantage of an NCC POP 142's quicker content load time relative to a traditional local browse session. Prior to the local browse session completing the processing all requested resources, the browser may process any user interactions locally and/or remotely as described in FIGS. 5A and 11 below.

Once the local browse session has fully obtained and processed resources corresponding to the requested content, the computing device 102 may determine whether to continue to display results obtained from the NCC POP 142 (and process user interactions at the NCC POP 142) using the determined remote session browsing configuration or switch to processing user interactions locally. Switching to process user interactions locally may include replacing a displayed representation of the requested resources based on a processing result obtained from the NCC POP 142 with a local display of the requested resources. For example, a browser may display a representation of a Web page corresponding to a processing result from the NCC POP 142 (e.g., RDP display information representing the rendered page) until the browser is finished processing and rendering the Web page locally. The browser may then replace the representation from the NCC POP 142 with the locally rendered representation of the Web page. Illustratively, replacing one representation with another representation may be transparent to the user. For example, the local and NCC POP 142 representations of the Web page may be identical or substantially identical. In one embodiment, when the NCC POP 142 representation of the web page is displayed, the browser may send various user interactions with the displayed page to the NCC POP 142 for processing. When the locally rendered version of the Web page is displayed, user interactions may be processed locally at the browser. Illustratively, the determination of which representation of the requested resources to display (e.g., local or from the NCC POP 142) may be based on any of the same factors described with reference to determining a remote session browse protocol in above.

In one embodiment, the client computing device 102 may switch to processing user interactions locally as soon as local resources are fully loaded. Illustratively, the remote browse session instance running at the NCC POP 142 may be terminated after switching to local processing, or the remote browse session instance may be maintained as a backup in case of unresponsiveness or a failure with regards to the local browse session. For example, the client computing device 102 may process user interactions locally, as well as sending remote user interaction data to the NCC POP 142 in accordance with the selected remote session browsing configuration. The remote user interaction data may be used by the NCC POP 142 to keep the remote browse session instance fully in parallel with the local browse process being executed by the browser at the client computing device 102. As long as the local browse session continues to handle user interactions, the NCC POP 142 may either refrain from sending updated processing results, or may send updated processing results ignored by the client computing device 102. If a problem develops with the local browse session at the client computing device 102, updated processing results may be provided to the client computing device 102 from the NCC POP 142 for processing and display in lieu of the local browse session. Illustratively, this switch from the local browse session to remote processing may be transparent to the user. In some embodiments, the client computing device 102 may switch from a local browse session to a remote browse session instance based on factors other than unresponsiveness or failure at the local browser. For example, the client computing device 102 or network computing and storage component 107 may select between a remote and local browse session based on any of the factors enumerated with regards to determining a remote session browse protocol above

In another embodiment, the client computing device 102 may continue to process and display updated processing results from the NCC POP 142 even after the local browse session has fully loaded the requested content. The client computing device 102 may terminate the local browse session or may run the local browse session in parallel as a backup process in the converse of the example provided above. It should be appreciated that although the local browse session is described here for the purpose of illustration as being slower to load than the remote browse session instance, in some embodiments the local browse session may load the content faster than the remote browsing session, in which case the browser may process user interactions locally until the remote browse process has fully loaded the requested content. In some embodiments, the client computing device 102 may display and process user interactions through whichever browse session, local or remote, loads the requested content first.

In various other embodiments, the network computing provider 107 may instantiate multiple remote browse session instances to run in parallel in addition to or as an alternative to instantiating a local browse session. Illustratively, these parallel browse session instances may utilize any of the same or different remote session browse protocols, and may act as backups in the manner described above with regard to a local browse session, or may be used and switched between as alternatives in order to maximize browser performance at the client computing device 102. For example, in response to one or more browse session requests, the network computing provider 107 may instantiate a browse session instance running on a first NCC POP and utilizing an RDP protocol as well as browse session instance running on a second NCC POP utilizing an X-Windows protocol. The client computing device 102 or the network computing provider 107 may determine which browse session instance and protocol should be used based on performance or resource usage considerations as described with regards to determining a remote session browse protocol above.

With continued reference to FIG. 9, at block 918, the network computing provider 107 may process the obtained content, including the one or more requested network resources and embedded network resources, according to the determined remote session browsing configuration to generate an initial processing result. At block 920, the network computing provider 107 may provide the initial processing result to the client for further processing and display in the content display area of the browser. For the purposes of further example, an illustrative client new browse session interaction routine 1000 implemented by client computing device 102 is described below with reference to FIG. 10. At block 922, the start new browse session routine 900 ends.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrative of a client new browse session interaction routine 1000 implemented by client computing device 102. New browse session interaction routine 1000 begins at block 1002 in response to an event or user request causing the client computing device 102 to load a browser for viewing network content. At block 1004, the client computing device loads locally managed components of the browser, including all local interface components. As described above with reference to FIGS. 5A and 7, local interface components may include toolbars, menus, buttons, or other user interface controls managed and controlled by the software browser application or any other process executing or implemented locally at the client computing device. At block 1006, the client computing device 102 provides a request for a new browse session instance to the network computing provider 107. From the perspective of the user of the client computing device, the request for the new browse session corresponds to the intended request to transmit the request to one or more corresponding content providers 104. In other embodiment, the new session request may correspond to a request to load a file or other document (e.g., a request to load an image in a photo-editing application, etc.). Illustratively, the request may be generated automatically as a result of the browser loading (e.g., a request for a default or “home” page), or may be generated as a result of a user following a link or entering a network address into an address bar. As illustrated with respect to FIG. 2A, the browse session request is transmitted first to a network computing provider 107. In an illustrative embodiment, the network computing provider 107 utilizes a registration API to accept browse session requests from the client computing device 102.

A browse session request may include any number of pieces of data or information including, but not limited to, information associated with a user, information associated with the client computing device 102 or software on the client computing device (e.g., hardware or software information, a device physical or logical location, etc.), information associated with the network 108, user or browser preferences (e.g., a requested remote session browse protocol, a preference list, a decision tree, or other information), information associated with the network computing provider 107, information associated with one or more pieces of requested network content (e.g., the network address of a network resource), etc. For example, a browse session request from the client computing device 102 may include information identifying a particular client computing device hardware specification or a hardware performance level, latency and bandwidth data associated with recent content requests, a desired security level for processing different types of content, a predetermined preference list of remote session browse protocols, and one or more network addresses corresponding to requested network resources, among others. In another example, the browse session request can include information identifying a client computing device 102 screen resolution, aspect ratio, or browser display area in the browse session request may allow the network computing provider 107 to customize the processing of network content for display on the client computing device. As previously described, the browse session request can include network address information corresponding to a requested network resource, which may be in any form including, but not limited to, an Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, a URL, a Media Access Control (“MAC”) address, etc. In one embodiment, the request for a new browse session instance may correspond to the network computing provider receiving a request for a new browse session instance at block 904 of FIG. 9 above.

At block 1008, the client computing device 102 obtains an initial processing result from the network computing provider 107. Illustratively, the format and data included in the initial processing result may vary based on the remote session browsing configuration selected by the network computing provider 107. In one embodiment, the initial processing result may include or be preceded by data informing the client computing device 102 of the choice of remote session browsing configuration and/or establishing a connection over the remote session communication protocol corresponding to the selected remote session browsing configuration. As discussed above with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, the obtained initial processing result may include requested content with one or more processing actions performed by the network computing provider 107. Subsequent to obtaining the initial processing result, the client computing device 102 may perform any remaining processing actions on the initial processing result at block 1010.

At block 1012, the client computing device 102 displays the content corresponding to the processed initial processing result. For example, the client computing device 102 may display the processed client in the content display area 702 of a browser 700 as described in FIG. 7 above. In one embodiment, the processing result may only include display data corresponding to content displayed by a browser, and may not include display data corresponding to, for example, the interface controls of a browser instance at the NCC POP 142, the desktop of a virtual machine instance corresponding to the browse session, or any other user interface of the NCC POP 142. For example, the NCC POP 142 may process a Web page and associated content for display via RDP in a browser instance running in a virtual machine instance at the NCC POP 142. The browser instance may have one or more interface elements such as toolbars, menus, scroll bars, etc., in addition to the displayed Web page. The NCC POP 142 may send an RDP processing result corresponding to the displayed Web page only, without any of the interface elements associated with the browser. Illustratively, including an RDP processing result corresponding to the displayed Web page only may allow the browser at the client computing instance 102 to display the Web page by assembling the RDP processing result in the content display area of the browser without any further processing. In another embodiment, the RDP processing result may include a full virtual machine desktop and browser window corresponding to the full interface displayed at the NCC POP 142 browse session instance. The client computing device may automatically identify the area of the RDP processing result corresponding to the requested content, and may display only this area in the content display area of the browser.

At block 1014, the client computing device 102 processes local and remote user interactions. An illustrative routine for processing user interactions is provided below with reference to FIG. 11. At block 1016 the routine ends. Illustratively, a browse session instance instantiated by the network computing content provider 107 may terminate when a browser window or content display area is closed, may terminate when a remote session browse protocol is replaced by a parallel process at the client computing device 102, or may terminate in accordance with a timer or other event. Illustratively, if a browse session has terminated automatically due to a time-out but has associated content still displayed in a browser at the client computing device 102, later attempts by the user to interact with the content may result in a new browse session request being provided to the network computing and storage service provider 107 to start a new browse session according to the last state of the terminated session. Illustratively, terminating a remote browse session after a time-out may allow the network computing storage provider 107 to save computing resources at the NCC POP. In one embodiment, this process may be transparent to the user at client computing device 102, even though the remote browse session has been terminated during the intervening period.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrative of a process user interaction routine 1100 implemented by a client computing device 102. Process user interaction routine 1100 begins at block 1102 in response to an interaction by a user. Illustratively, process user interaction routine 1100 may begin subsequent to the display of content in a content display area of a browser interface. For example, process user interaction routine 1100 may correspond to block 1014 of FIG. 10 above.

Illustratively, the displayed content may have one or more interactive elements, such as forms, buttons, animations, etc. User interaction with these interactive elements may require processing and display of updated content in the content display area. For example, selecting an element in a drop-down menu on a Web page may require processing and may change the configuration or visual appearance of the Web page or embedded resources. Illustratively, the processing required by user interaction with the displayed content may be handled as a local user interaction at the client computing device 102 or as a remote user interaction at the NCC POP 142 depending on the remote session browsing configuration in use. For example, if a remote session browsing configuration utilizing substantial local processing (e.g., sending unprocessed files over HTML), user interactions with displayed content may typically be handled as local user interactions at the client computing device 102. Illustratively, handling user interactions with displayed content as local user interactions at the client computing device 102 may allow for better responsiveness and fewer delays with simple user interactions (e.g., selection of a radio button, or typing text into a field), as interaction data corresponding to the interaction does not need to be sent to the NCC POP 142 for processing.

As a further example, if a remote session browsing configuration utilizing heavy remote processing of content (e.g., sending processed bitmap data over RDP) is being used as the remote session browsing configuration, all user interactions with displayed content may be handled as remote user interactions. For example, user input (e.g., keyboard inputs and cursor positions) may be encapsulated in RDP protocol data units and transmitted across network 108 to the NCC POP 142 for processing. Illustratively, the NCC POP 142 may apply the user interactions to the network content and transmit processing results consisting of updated bitmaps and interface data corresponding to an updated representation of the content back to the client computing device 102. Illustratively, handling user interactions with displayed content as remote user interactions at the NCC POP 142 may have a negative impact on interface responsiveness, as data is required to pass over the network and is limited by network latency; however, user interactions that require a substantial amount of processing may perform better when handled as remote user interactions, as the processing latency of the NCC POP 142 may be substantially lower than the processing latency of the client computing device 102.

In addition to a content display area for displaying network content, a browser may have one or more local interface components, such as toolbars, menus, buttons, or other user interface controls. Interactions with local interface components may be treated as local user interactions or remote user interactions depending on the processing required by the interaction and the remote session browsing configuration as further depicted in illustrative FIG. 7. For example, some local interface components may be managed locally by browser code running on the client computing device, while other local interface components may have one or more locally managed aspects (e.g., button click feedback, scroll bar redraw, etc), and one or more remote managed aspects treated as remote user interactions (e.g., page refresh, requesting a page at an address in an address bar, etc.)

At block 1104, the client computing device 102 obtains a user interaction from the user. This user interaction may be an interaction with local interface components as described in FIG. 7 and above, or may be an interaction with any interactive elements of the content displayed in the content display area of the browser, such as form fields, buttons, animations, etc. User interaction with these local interface components or interactive elements of displayed content may require local and/or remote processing depending on the nature of the component or element and the processing split specified by the remote session browsing configuration as described in FIG. 7 and above. At block 1106, the client computing device 102 determines the interaction processing requirements for the obtained user interaction. At decision block 1108, if the user interaction has local aspects (e.g., button click feedback, a change to a local browser state, a content element being processed at the client computing device, etc.) the routine 1102 moves to block 1110 to process the local aspect or aspects of the user interaction at the client computing device 102 and subsequently update the local interface components at block 1112. Illustratively, and as discussed above, aspects of the interaction and updating interface components and elements locally allows a browser to provide responsive user interfaces and content. Subsequent to processing local aspect(s) of the user interaction, or if the user interaction has no local elements (e.g., a user interaction with a content element displayed in the content display area when using a remote session browsing configuration processing entirely on the server side and utilizing an RDP remote session communication protocol) the routine 1102 moves to decision block 1114. If the user interaction has remote aspects that require processing, the routine 1102 moves to block 1116 and provides remote user interaction data to the network computing provider 107. Illustratively, in the case of a heavily server side remote session browsing configuration utilizing an RDP remote session communication protocol, the remote user interaction data may include input data such as a cursor position or keyboard input encapsulated in one or more RDP protocol data units. In some embodiments of remote session browsing configurations utilizing RDP or other remote session communication protocols, particular aspects of remote user interaction data such as cursor positions may be provided to the network computing provider 107 on a continuous basis, while in other embodiments of remote session browse configurations remote user interaction data may only be provided to the network computing provider 107 when associated with a user interaction that requires remote processing.

At block 1118, the client computing device 102 obtains an updated processing result from the network computing provider 107, the network computing provider 107 having processed the remote user interaction data to generate an updated representation of the content. At block 1120, the client computing device 102 performs any additional processing required on the updated processing result (based on the remote session browsing configuration) and at block 1122 displays the updated processing result in the content display area of the browser. At block 1124 the process user interaction routine 1102 ends. Illustratively, the routine may be executed again any number of times in response to further user interactions with the browser and displayed content.

FIG. 12 illustrates a routine 1200 implemented by a network computing provider 107 for creating browser virtual machine images 186 customized for a specific web site or type of web site. As described above, a browser may be preconfigured to improve performance and reduce network traffic and overall processing when responding to a request from a client computing device 102 by customizing the browser for the requested web site. The discussion which follows is directed toward the creation of browser virtual machine images 186, by a network computing provider 107 or a virtual machine manager 182 of a network computing provider 107, for browsers customized to process specific web sites. However, the discussion is meant to be illustrative only, and is not intended to be limiting. For example, the same or a similar routine can be implemented by a component outside of the network computing provider 107. Additionally, the same or a similar routine can be implemented to create customized virtual machine images for applications other than browsers, for processing general types of web sites rather than specific web sites, or for processing resources altogether different than web sites.

The routine 1200 beings at block 1202 and continues to block 1204, where the image creation module 192 of the virtual machine manager 182, illustrated in FIG. 1C, obtains information regarding the specific website for which it is to generate a customized browser virtual machine image 186. The information can include operating parameters for the browser, the identity and specific characteristics of the target web site, and the like. For example, the information can specify that the target web site is http://www.xyzwebsite.com, which may be a video hosting web site. The image creation module 192 may receive the information from another component of the virtual machine manager 182, such as the analysis and optimization module 198, from a different component of the network computing provider 107, from a third party source, etc. In some embodiments, the image creation module 192 can obtain the information by observing the target web site, for example by downloading the target web site and any embedded resources and then analyzing them to determine operating parameters. In response to obtaining such operating information, the routine 1200 can proceed to block 1206.

At block 1206, the image creation module 192 can configure browser settings, add or remove browser components, or modify the browser software code. The image creation module 192 can launch a general browser instance first, and then configure the settings to begin the process of customizing it before it is saved as a browser virtual machine image. In some embodiments, the image creation module 192 can generate browser virtual machine images 186 without launching a general browser instance to configure, such as when the image creation module 192 will modify the browser software code. In the example above, settings to configure may include those which allow a browser to most effectively process video files. In some embodiments, the hardware profile for the browser can be specified as a type of setting. For example, the amount of memory, the CPU type and speed, etc. can be selected and customized to further optimize the performance of the browser. In some cases, these settings and/or target hardware profile may have a detrimental effect on web sites other than those for which the browser is customized. Returning to the example above, only web sites, such as the http://www.xyzwebsite.com video hosting web site, may realize improved performance when processed through a browser with such customized settings running on hardware with such a selected profile.

At block 1208, the image creation module 192 can obtain the web page and any embedded resources, if they have not been obtained previously by the image creation module 192, such as in block 1204 described above. The web page and any embedded resources can be obtained to facilitate precaching and preprocessing of the web page, as described in detail below. Returning to the http://www.xyzwebsite.com example, the default HTML file for the web site can be requested, received, and processed to determine whether any embedded resources, such as videos, images, CSS files, Javascript files, etc. are embedded within. The image creation module 192 can then proceed to obtain those files. In some embodiments, the web page and embedded resources may already be available on the network computing provider 107, and may be passed to the image creation module 192 as part of the information described above with respect to block 1204. In response to receiving the web page and any embedded resources, the routine 1200 can proceed to block 1210.

At block 1210, the image creation module 192 can parse the HTML and CSS of the web page, so that the web page is ready for immediate display when the browser is instantiated from a browser virtual machine image 186. To facilitate the parsing, the image creation module 192 can load the HTML and CSS into the browser that was launched in block 1206, described above. The browser can parse the HTML and CSS as it normally would in response to a request from a client computing device 102, except that in this case the HTML and CSS are parsed so that the memory space of the browser can be saved as an image for later instantiation. In another embodiment, the image creation module 192 can parse the HTML and CSS without aid from the browser, and can create the corresponding portions of memory that will be saved in the browser virtual machine image 186.

At block 1212, the image creation module 192 can compile or interpret the Javascript so that the instructions of the script are ready for immediate execution when the browser is instantiated from the browser virtual machine image 186. The image creation module 192 can load the Javascript into the browser launched in block 1206, described above, and then the browser can utilize its own Javascript interpreter or compiler to process the Javascript into a form that is executable. In some embodiments, the image creation module 192 can interpret or compile the Javascript using its own Javascript interpreter or compiler, or the Javascript can be submitted to another component of the network computing provider 107 or to a third party compiler or interpreter.

At block 1214, the image creation module 192 can load the cache of the browser so that resources that may be needed after the browser is launched from the browser virtual machine image 186 are available without requiring additional network requests and traffic. For example, the image creation module 192 can determine which resources may be required after the initial web page is displayed, and can then request, receive, and store those resources in the cache of the browser. In some embodiments, a separate component of the virtual machine manager 182 or network computing provider 107, or some third party component, can determine which resources to cache for the target web page.

In response to completion of the processes described above, the routine 1200 can proceed to block 1216. At block 1216, the image creation module 192 can instruct the browser to render the web page so that the web page is immediately viewable when the browser is instantiated from the browser virtual machine image 186. In some embodiments, it may not be desirable to completely render the web page, or the web page may not be able to be completely rendered without user interaction. For example, the web page may execute scripted commands which require user interaction or personalized account information in order to complete. In such cases, the image creation module 192 or browser can attempt to render a portion of the web page and pause execution of such scripts until the browser is instantiated from the browser virtual machine image 186.

In response to rendering the web page, the routine 1200 can proceed to block 1218, where the customized browser can be saved and stored as a browser virtual machine image 186. Returning to the http://www.xyzwebsite.com example, when the browser has had its settings configured for optimal video playback performance, the default web page and embedded resources have been retrieved and processed, the cache has been loaded, and the web page has been rendered, the entire memory space allocated to the browser can be saved as a browser virtual machine image 186. Alternatively, any appropriate method for imaging applications can be used to create the browser virtual machine image 186. The routine 1200 can then proceed to block 1220, where execution terminates.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example routine 1300 implemented by a virtual machine manager 182 or other component of the network computing provider 107 for routing requests to browser instances that have been customized to handle the request. For example, if a user of a client computing device 102 submits a request for http://www.xyzwebsite.com, the instance selection module 196 of the virtual machine manager 182 can determine which of the available network computing components to route the request to, based on whether a customized browser virtual machine image 186 has been created for the requested site and, if so, whether a browser has been instantiated from the image 186.

The routine 1300 begins at block 1302 and proceeds to block 1304, where the instance selection module 196 obtains a request for a web site. For example, a user of a client computing device 102 may submit a request for http://www.xyzwebsite.com to the network computing provider 107. The network computing provider 107 may then send the request to the instance selection module 196 of the virtual machine manager 182 for processing. In response to receiving the request, the routine 1300 can proceed to decision block 1306.

At decision block 1306, the instance selection module 196 can determine whether a browser virtual machine image 186 containing a browser customized for the requested web site has been created. For example, the instance selection module 196 can consult a database of web sites to determine whether a corresponding browser virtual machine 186 has been created for the specific web site, or if not, whether one has been created for any web site with a specific characteristic shared by the requested web site. For example, if the requested web site is http://www.xyzwebsite.com, the instance selection module 196 can first determine whether a customized browser has been created specifically for http://www.xyzwebsite.com. If none has been created, the instance selection module 196 can determine whether a customized browser has been created for a group of web sites sharing a specific characteristic with http://www.xyzwebsite.com, such as video hosting web sites. If a browser virtual machine image 186 with a browser customized for the requested web site or type of web site has not been created, the routine 1300 can proceed to block 1310. At block 1310, the instance selection module 196 can route the request to a standard browser instance for processing, as described elsewhere herein, rather than a customized browser instantiated from a browser virtual machine image 186. In some embodiments, the instance selection module 196 can register the request in a database, send a message to the analysis and optimization module 198 so that a determination can be made as to whether a new customized browser should be created, send a message to the instance creation module 182 so that a new customized browser can be created, etc. After the request has been routed to a standard browser instance, the routine 1300 can proceed to block 1316, where execution terminates.

Returning to decision block 1306, if a browser virtual machine image 186 containing a customized browser corresponding to the requested web site has already been created, the routine 1300 can proceed to decision block 1308. In some embodiments, the instance selection module 196 may route requests to other browser instances even if a browser virtual machine image 186 containing a customized browser corresponding to the requested web site has already been created. For example, the instance selection module 196 may route a percentage of requests to the standard browser instance to determine how much of a performance difference results from use of a customized browser instance over a standard browser instance. In another example, the instance selection module 196 may route a percentage of requests to a test browser instance to determine the effectiveness of a browser instance under live circumstances.

At decision block 1308, the instance selection module 196 can determine whether a browser, customized for the requested web site, has been instantiated from a browser virtual machine image 186 and is ready to process a new request. For example, the instance selection module 196 can receive a request for http://www.xyzwebsite.com. In response to receiving the request, the instance selection module 196 can consult a database, query a service, or perform some other lookup of currently running customized browser instances to determine whether a browser customized for the http://www.xyzwebsite.com or with video-hosting web sites has been instantiated and is available. If so, the routine can proceed to block 1314. If none is available, the routine 1300 can proceed to block 1312.

At block 1312, the instance selection module 192 or another component of virtual machine manager 182 or the network computing provider 107 can launch a customized browser from a browser virtual machine image 186 to process the request. Once the customized browser has been instantiated, the routine 1300 can proceed to block 1314. At block 1314, the instance selection module 196 can route the request to the customized browser for processing, as described in detail above with respect to FIG. 12. In response to routing the request to a customized browser, the routine 1300 can proceed to block 1316, where execution terminates.

FIG. 14 illustrates a routine 1400 for automatically generating browser virtual machine images 186 containing customized browsers. For example, if a web site, such as http://www.xyzwebsite.com, has recently become one of the most requested web sites of the client computing devices 102 in communication with the network computing provider 107, an automated process can be invoked to generate a browser virtual machine image 186 with a customized browser for http://www.xyzwebsite.com. In some embodiments, the browser virtual machine image 186 can be generated without any administrator or other human interaction. The process of determining a web site for which to create a customized browser, and the actions required to generate a browser virtual machine image 186 containing the customized browser, can be completely automated.

The routine 1400 can begin at block 1402, and proceed to block 1404. At block 1404, the analysis and optimization module 198 of the virtual machine manager 182, or some other component, monitors the browsing requests from the client computing devices 102 in communication with the network computing provider 107. For example, the analysis and optimization module 198 can have access to a database of browsing requests, and can be configured to monitor the database. In some embodiments, a third party component monitors browsing requests for a group of client computing devices 102, and the analysis and optimization module 198 obtains data from the third party component. At some point in time, such as at a predetermined checkpoint or in response to a particular monitoring activity, the routine 1400 can proceed to decision block 1406.

At decision block 1406, the analysis and optimization module 198 can determine whether a website with a high number of requests or otherwise having a large amount of traffic associated with it does not have a corresponding customized browser. For example, the analysis and optimization module 198 can recognize that requests for http://www.xyzwebsite.com consume a large amount of the bandwidth of the network computing provider 107, or that the number of requests for http://www.xyzwebsite.com places it in the top 1000 requested web sites, etc. If the analysis and optimization module 198 finds such a web site, the routine 1400 can proceed to block 1408. Otherwise, the routine 1400 can return to block 1404. In some embodiments, the monitoring in block 1404 can occur continuously, such that the routine 1400 does not have to return to block 1404 after decision block 1406.

At block 1408, the analysis and optimization module 198 can obtain the default web page or some specific web page associated with the site in order to process it and determine how to customize a browser for improved performance when browsing the web site. In response to receiving the web page and any embedded resources, the routine 1400 can proceed to block 1410.

At block 1410, the analysis and optimization module 198 can determine the browser setting changes and other customizations to make to improve the performance of the browser when processing the web site. For example, the analysis and optimization module 198 can configure the browser to launch various video playback components so that the video hosting site http://ww.xyzwebsite.com will be ready to playback videos immediately when accessed. In response to determining the browser settings, execution of the routine 1400 can proceed to block 1412.

At block 1412, the analysis and optimization module 198 can generate the customized browser virtual machine image 186. For example, the analysis and optimization module 198 can implement the procedures described above with respect to FIG. 12 in order to generate the browser virtual machine image 186. In some embodiments, the analysis and optimization module 198 can pass the URL or some other indicator to the image creation module 192 of the virtual machine manager 182, and the image creation module 192 can handle creation of the browser virtual machine image 186.

In response to the customized browser virtual machine image 186 being created, the routine 1400 can proceed to block 1414, where execution terminates. In some embodiments, the routine 1400, or a variant thereof, can be executed to update existing customized browser virtual machine images 186. For example, a high-traffic web site may have content that changes regularly. Accordingly, updating the customized browser virtual machine image 186 daily or hourly may be desirable in order to realize a greater performance gain. In some cases an automated process can monitor the web site and determine when the customized browser virtual machine image 186 should be updated, or a percentage of traffic to the web site may be routed to a non-customized browser instance for comparison in order to determine when performance of the customized browser has decreased beyond a threshold.

While illustrative embodiments have been disclosed and discussed, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that additional or alternative embodiments may be implemented within the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the techniques described herein may be utilized, without departing from the scope of the present invention, to allow remote processing management in any number of other software applications and processes, including, but not limited to, image or video editing software, database software, office productivity software, 3d design software, audio and sound processing applications, etc. Additionally, although many embodiments have been indicated as illustrative, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the illustrative embodiments do not need to be combined or implemented together. As such, some illustrative embodiments do not need to be utilized or implemented in accordance with scope of variations to the present disclosure.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are used inclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additional elements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Also, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the list. Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y and Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may be either X, Y or Z. Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at least one of Y and at least one of Z to each be present

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagrams described herein and/or depicted in the attached FIGURES should be understood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternate implementations are included within the scope of the embodiments described herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art. It will further be appreciated that the data and/or components described above may be stored on a computer-readable medium and loaded into memory of the computing device using a drive mechanism associated with a computer readable storing the computer executable components such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or network interface further, the component and/or data can be included in a single device or distributed in any manner. Accordingly, general purpose computing devices may be configured to implement the processes, algorithms, and methodology of the present disclosure with the processing and/or execution of the various data and/or components described above.

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to be understood as being among other acceptable examples. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising one or more physical network computing devices, wherein each physical network computing device comprises hardware configurable to execute specific computing instructions, the system configured to: create a customized instance of a server-hosted browsing application accessible from a separate client-hosted browsing application, wherein the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application comprises at least a portion of a network-based content item processed and loaded into a memory space of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application, and wherein the network-based content item is retrieved from a content source separate from the one or more physical network computing devices; generate a virtual machine image of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application, the virtual machine image comprising a representation of the memory space of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application; distribute, to one or more servers, the virtual machine image of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application; and direct, to a server configured with the virtual machine image of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application, one or more requests received from one or more separate client-hosted browsing applications for the network-based content item.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the network-based content item comprises a predetermined web page.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the network-based content item comprises a web page identified as popular.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more servers are configured to launch an instance of the virtual machine prior to receiving a request for the network-based content item.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more servers are configured to launch an instance of the virtual machine in response to receiving a request for the network-based content item.
 6. They system of claim 1, further configured to direct, to a server comprising an instance of a server-hosted browsing application not customized for an identified network-based content item, requests for network-based content items for which customized instances of the server-hosted browsing application have not been generated.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein creating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application comprises loading one or more network resources in addition to the network-based content item prior to distributing the virtual machine image of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein creating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application comprises processing at least a portion of the one or more network resources prior to distributing the virtual machine image of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application.
 9. A computer-implemented method for improving browsing performance, the method comprising: under the control of a network computing component executing on one or more physical computing components of a network computing provider, the physical computing components configured to execute specific instructions, creating a customized instance of a server-hosted browsing application for a type of network-based content item by loading at least a portion of a network-based content item corresponding to the type of network-based content item into a memory space of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application, wherein the network-based content item is retrieved from a content source separate from the network computing provider, wherein the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application is accessible from a separate client-hosted browser application, and wherein the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application is customized for processing the type of network-based content item; and saving the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application as a virtual machine image to be instantiated at a subsequent time.
 10. The computer-implemented method system of claim 9, wherein the type of network-based content item comprises an identified web page.
 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the type of network-based content item comprises a group of web pages comprising a common characteristic.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising obtaining data regarding one or more characteristics of the type of network-based content item, wherein creating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application is based at least in part on the one or more characteristics of the type of the network-based content item.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the data is obtained by retrieving the type of network-based content item and observing characteristics of the type of network-based content item.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the data is obtained from an electronic data store.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein creating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application comprises loading one or more network resources in addition to the portion of the network-based content item prior to creating the virtual machine image of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein creating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application comprises processing at least a portion of the one or more network resources prior to creating the virtual machine image of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application.
 17. A computer-implemented method for automatically creating customized browser images, the method comprising: under the control of a network computing component executing on one or more physical computing components of a network computing provider, the physical computing components configured to execute specific instructions, determining that a network-based content item having a level of demand exceeding a threshold level does not have a corresponding customized instance of a server-hosted browsing application accessible from a separate client-hosted browsing application; creating a customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application for the network-based content item, the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application comprising at least a portion of the network-based content item processed and loaded into a memory space of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application, wherein the network-based content item is retrieved from a content source separate from the network computing provider, and wherein creating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application occurs without initiation by a human; and saving the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application as a virtual machine image to be instantiated at a subsequent time.
 18. The computer-implemented method system of claim 17, wherein the network-based content item comprises a predetermined web page.
 19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the level of demand comprises a number of requests for the network-based content item.
 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the level of demand comprises a request ranking relative to other network-based content items.
 21. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the determining comprises obtaining data regarding requests of a plurality of client computing devices.
 22. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising obtaining data regarding one or more characteristics of the network-based content item, wherein creating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application is based at least in part on the one or more characteristics of the network-based content item.
 23. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the data regarding one or more characteristics of the network-based content item is obtained by retrieving the network-based content item and observing the one or more characteristics of the network-based content item.
 24. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the data regarding one or more characteristics of the network-based content item is obtained from an electronic data store.
 25. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein creating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application comprises loading one or more network resources in addition to the network-based content item prior to creating the virtual machine image of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application.
 26. The computer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein creating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application comprises processing at least a portion of the one or more network resources prior to creating the virtual machine image of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application.
 27. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising updating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application at periodic intervals.
 28. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising updating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application in response to determining that the network-based content item has changed.
 29. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising updating the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application in response to determining that performance has decreased beyond a threshold.
 30. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual machine image stores an internal state of the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application such that the customized instance of the server-hosted browsing application is able to be restored at a subsequent time. 